President Park Geun-hye urged economic policymakers to swiftly draw up plans to raise additional budget and seek National Assembly approval to spur employment, investment and the livelihoods of the middle class.“Foremost, a supplementary budget should be devised as soon as possible to revitalize the economy and that could help normalize (the government’s) tax revenue,” President Park said in an economic briefing by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on Wednesday.“The budget should be drawn up

April 3, 2013

Korea’s economic dependency on top conglomerates has continued to rise, posing a challenge to the incumbent President Park Geun-hye administration seeking to restructure the country’s economic landscape.A report by Korea’s Fair Trade Commission showed that sales generated by the top four private conglomerates, or chaebol, accounted for more than 53 percent of the total in the first quarter of this year, up from 52 percent a year ago.The top four industrial groups sanctioned by the antitrust watc

Industry April 2, 2013

Trade continued to surpass 100 percent of Korea’s gross national income for the third straight year, making the country vulnerable to external macroeconomic factors.Trade in proportion to GNI, the total value of income generated by Korean nationals domestically and abroad, stood at 112.7 percent in 2012, similar to 112.9 percent in 2011, according to data by the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.In 2010, the ratio reached over 105 percent.This led to Korea becoming the

April 2, 2013

The government announced a set of real estate measures on Monday in a widescale effort to revive the country’s sluggish housing market through deregulation and tax cuts.“Through these comprehensive measures, we have sent out a signal to the (real estate) market, urging it to normalize,” Land Minister Suh Seoung-hwan said in a news conference. “What matters now is implementing the details as soon as possible.”Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said the long-slumping housing market “could weigh on our

April 1, 2013

The government plans to announce its first set of measures aimed at reviving the sluggish real estate market on Monday.The comprehensive plan would likely include various tax cuts on housing transactions. The Finance Ministry and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport have been drawing up the measures.The government had said that it would announce the housing plan before it devised an extra budget to secure funding for job creation and SMEs. The supplementary budget will likely take

March 31, 2013

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance has revised down its growth estimate this year on fears that the global economy could continue to be weighed down by sluggish demand.The ministry on Thursday projected 2.3 percent growth in 2013, down from its initial forecast of 3 percent announced last year, as exports slowed and private consumption and facilities investment continued to show weak performance.Unveiling the new government’s economic policy direction, Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said it wou

March 28, 2013

Kang Man-soo, chairman of state-owned KDB Financial, has expressed his intention to resign, a widely expected move following the head of Korea’s financial regulatory body showing determination to overhaul financial holding companies.Lee Ji-song, CEO of the state-run real estate developer LH Corp., also followed suit, fanning speculation that the resignations may affect other state-run firms’ heads who were appointed when Lee Myung-bak was president. Company officials said he tendered his resigna

March 28, 2013

The Park Geun-hye government is set to introduce its first package of economic measures aimed at boosting jobs and the sustainability of small and medium enterprises.The Ministry of Strategy and Finance headed by Deputy Prime Minister Hyun Oh-seok is set to reveal to the public its stimulus plans on Thursday after a last-minute check with President Park, whose priority is improving job growth in the country entering a low-growth period.A ministry official said Thursday’s announcement would show

March 27, 2013

Korea’s economy grew at the slowest pace in three years due to lackluster private consumption as well as slowdowns in facility investment and construction, the Bank of Korea said Tuesday.According to the BOK report, the nation’s gross national income increased 2.6 percent on-year in 2012 as terms of trade improved. Per capita GNI stood at $22,708 last year, up from $22,451 in 2011.Growth of Korea’s gross domestic product stood at 2 percent in 2012 as initially expected, as the three main economi

March 26, 2013

Japan has been going through a series downturns and recessions further weighed down by declining asset prices and a strong currency since the 1990s. This inevitably led the once second-largest economy in the world to face nearly two decades of hardship.Despite being in the doldrums, Japan was able to weather the storm quite well thanks to its diverse and sustainable pool of conglomerates, and small and medium enterprises, according to a Bank of Korea report obtained by a local newswire.The repor

March 25, 2013

Korean consumer activist groups are looking to arbitrate with local banks attacked by malware on March 20 to seek compensation for consumers who may have suffered losses from the latest nationwide network crash.The Financial Consumer Agency and Korea Financial Consumer Federation are joining forces to hear consumer concerns even though Shinhan Bank and Nonghyup have restored most of their systems since the cyber attack.They plan to negotiate on behalf of consumers, but will file a class action l

March 22, 2013

Banks in Korea that had been exposed to malware allegedly planted by North Korea to cause a nationwide network crash were back in business tending to their daily customers, financial authorities said Thursday.However, it may take a while to fully normalize their operations as the country’s financial regulators said that banks such as Nonghyup are still trying to retool some of their networks linked to automated teller machines.Shinhan Bank said that it has restored its system and is operating at

March 21, 2013

The Bank of Korea will not test how the Korean economy performs and responds to its monetary policy, Governor Kim Choong-soo said in a meeting with economic researchers and professors on Wednesday.Kim’s remarks came in defense of the central bank’s decision to freeze its key base rate at 2.75 percent this month for the fifth straight month, reiterating that the global economy, albeit slowly, is heading for recovery.There has been consensus in the market that the central bank may move to lower it

March 20, 2013